


Free Fallin'

by liv_andlet_die



Series: Little Talks [4]
Category: Nightwing (Comics), The Flash - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Best Friends, Birdflash - Freeform, Crack, Cute, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Wally and Artemis are besties, and she doesn't let him get away with shit, dickwally, past spitfire - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-28 20:23:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15057065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liv_andlet_die/pseuds/liv_andlet_die
Summary: Wally can be a real idiot sometimes, and he needs a sharp-shooter to set him straight.





	Free Fallin'

**Author's Note:**

> Artemis gives Wally a call after finding out that he and Dick have started dating. She's got some WORDS for this boy.
> 
> ~~~~  
>    
> A short little tidbit to tide us all over until I can escape this writers block I'm currently struggling with. I'd like to figure out where I want to take this series, I'm not sure if I want to develop a real plot for it yet. So until further notice, this may be a tie-up of the series for the next little while. 
> 
> But let me just say to every person who has commented/left kudos on my fics or sent me messages/prompts/love on tumblr: ya'll keep me going, and I'm so grateful for the wonderful responses that this series has gotten. You fill my heart with absolute joy and I really want to give you more of that good good birdflash fluff. So bear with me while I work this out, cuz I'm not ready to give up on these boys just yet.
> 
> Enjoy! <3

There’s a sound catching at the edge of Wally’s attention. It’s a weird buzzing and jingling, subtle enough to be irritating but definitely not enough to wake him up. Nope, not happening. He is not getting out of this bed.

“Walls… it’s yours…”

Shit.

Wally groans, rolling over under the comforter to drape an arm over Dick’s chest and burying his face against the edge of his pillow.

“No…”

“Wally…”

“Tired…”

“It’s been ringing for ten minutes, get it or I’m gonna throw it.”

“Baaaaabe…”

Suddenly the pillow is yanked out from under him, only to be whacked over the side of his face as Dick slams it on top of his own head, trying to drown out the sound.

“Get your fucking phone or we’re breaking up.”

Wally can barely make out the muffled words from under the pillow, but he gets the gist of it. He rolls onto his back with a sigh, rubbing at tired eyes before throwing off the comforter and swinging his legs over the side of the mattress. He frowns at the floor, trying to clear his sleepy mind enough to locate where the sound is coming from. The phone’s not on his bedside table, where it usually is, so this is going to be more work than he was anticipating.

His eyes graze over the room, searching the clothes strewn across his floor until he sees his jeans from the night before about three feet from the bed. Wally gets to his feet with a loud groan, his arms stretching over his head, before snatching the pants off the floor and rummaging around the pockets until _finally_ pulling out the offending object.

He doesn’t bother checking the name on the screen before swiping his finger across it to answer the call.

“Wallace. _Rudolph_. **_WEST_**.”

“Hey Arty.”

“What. The fuck?”

“Y’know there’s a time difference between here and Gotham, right? It’s about 7:00 in the morning here, did you know that?”

“Why did you not tell me?”

“That there’s a time difference?”

“That you’re dating Dick?!”

Like he can hear his own name being spoken on the other side of the call, Dick groans from under the pillow and gestures vaguely, yet aggressively, towards the door. Wally takes that as a cue to take the call outside and grabs a t-shirt off the floor, dropping the phone on his bed as he pulls it over his head. He can hear Artemis ranting through the speaker and figures she’s got at thirty seconds of steam left before she’s expecting a response. He slips on the jeans he’s still holding and a pair of old converse before picking up the phone again and exiting his room.

“-and we _had a deal_ , West. I told you when I started dating Zatanna, and you never fucking let me live it down that you were right. And now you pull _this_? I’ve got an arrow with your fuckin’ name on it if you don’t start talking.”m

Wally slips out the front door of his apartment building, shivering in the dewy morning air and crossing his arms over chest as best he can with a phone still pressed to his ear.

“Can I?”

“Can you what?”

“Start talking?”

He can almost hear the eye roll Artemis is most certainly giving him. The thought makes him smile.

“If you don’t, I’m gonna hurt you.”

Wally chuckles, leaning against the brick wall behind him. “Okay, first of all: it’s been a week. Let me get fuckin’ acclimatized to this whole thing before having to declare it to the world.”

“Alright but-”

“Second,” He ploughs on, cutting her off before she can start again. “It’s not solely my decision to tell people, Dick has a say in this too. And third… I’m sorry.”

The line is quiet for a moment, and he feels genuine remorse for not telling Artemis sooner.

“I’m sorry you had to find out through M’gann. It’s not how I wanted you to know. We didn’t really think about what meeting at the Cave would mean, it all came out by accident.”

“Why did you tell them though?”

“We didn’t at first, but M’gann sensed our ‘heightened emotions’ and figured it out.” Wally cracks a grin. “I swear, she’s like a mind-reader or something.”

“Fuck off.”

“You woke me up at 7:00 after a very late night, you can deal with my jokes.”

“Loser…”

They both go quiet again. Wally sighs, rubbing a hand over his face. “I am sorry, you know that, right?”

“Yeah…”

“I wanted to tell you first. I did. I just… wanted to keep it to myself for a little while and enjoy it, before everyone got involved.”

“I get it.”

He closes his eyes in anticipation, knowing he’s going to regret this. “But you were right…”

“I _was_ right, I _fucking told you_!”

“We were both right.”

“Yeah but at least I gave it a shot with Zatanna. You- _youuuu_ never even _entertained_ the thought that Dick might like you, Mister ‘I’m-Not-His-Type’. You’re the embodiment of his type, you oblivious fuck.”

Wally snorts and shakes his head in disbelief. “Yeah, well, you were more right than either of us thought.”

“What do you mean?”

“Apparently he’s been in love with me for three years.”

Wally wonders if he’s going to regret saying that, too.

The line goes quiet again, and then Wally has to pull the phone away from his ear to avoid permanent damage

“I **_knew_** it!”

“Artemis.”

“I _fucking_ knew it!”

“Arty.”

“What?”

“You can’t tell him I told you that.”

“Oh, no, of course not.”

“I’m serious, no wise cracks, no slips of the tongue. Nothing.”

“Ye of little faith.”

“I _know_ you, Artemis, we dated for two years.”

“Yeah, and you’ve known me for three more years after that. I can keep a secret, Baywatch.”

Wally sighs, not knowing how to say what he feels he should say – should probably talk about. Artemis is one of the only people he probably _could_ talk to about this. Other than Dick.

But that’s the problem.

“Artemis…”

“Yeah?”

“I’m about to say something that might sound kinda dumb.”

“Business as usual, then.”

“Fuck off.”

“What’s up?”

Wally bites his lip, pausing for a moment to prepare to say it out loud. “I think… I think I might be falling in love with him too…”

Silence. And then:

“Dude, it’s been a week.”

“I know!” Wally groans, pushing off the wall to start pacing along the sidewalk, his restless legs taking his tired body along for the ride. “I know that, and I know sounds-”

“Like you’re trying to catch up to Dick because you feel bad that you’ve been a clueless shithead?”

“That’s not-”

“That’s what it sounds like.”

“I know.” He huffs, rubbing the back of his neck. “But… I just… that’s how it feels? I think?”

“You think?”

“Yeah… But like, I love him. I’ve loved him for years, he’s my best friend.”

“Of course.”

“I just don’t know how to tell when I fall _in love with_ him, y’know?”

“Wally.”

“Yeah?”

“You’ll know.”

Wally stops pacing, staring down at the ground in thought. He wonders if that’s true. “But what if I think I do, but I don’t, but I tell him I do. Then I’m lying to him. What if it never happens? What if this fizzles out? WhatifI’mjustridingofftheshockofthefirstkiss? _Whatifwerushedintothisandit’satotalmistakeandIlosemybestfriendwhatif-”_

“Wally.”

“….yeah?”

“You’re an idiot.”

He frowns. “Not helping.”

“I mean, you’re an idiot if you think that you could fuck this up.” Artemis sighs, and Wally can picture her shaking her head at him. “If Dick has been in love with you for this long and hasn’t kicked you to the curb for all of your weird bullshit, there’s no possible way you could fuck this up without being a _monumental_ jackass.”

“But what if-”

“No, shut up.” She’s exasperated now, so Wally shuts up. He knows better than to antagonize her when Artemis is this irritated with him. “As oblivious and brash as you are, you’re a good guy. I dated you, for Christ’s sake, that stands for something. You’re not going to hurt Dick. You’re not gonna lose him. You guys are made for each other, it’s a wonder this didn’t happen sooner.”

Wally smiles sheepishly. “I’ve been thinking the same thing…”

“See?” Artemis lets out a quiet chuckle. “God, you really are an idiot. It’s a good thing you’re cute.”

“Sorry blondie, I’m taken.”

“Please. Been there, done that.”

They’re laughing now, and it’s nice. Wally’s glad that Artemis isn’t mad at him anymore. He doesn’t think he could take that, especially with how much he needs her support in this.

“Hey Artemis?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“No problem, Kid.” He can almost hear her smile. “What are ex-girlfriend-turned-best-friends for?”

“I mean, we did have some pretty great break-up sex.”

There’s silence again, and then Wally’s heart is thundering in his chest because he knows _exactly_ what’s coming.

“ ** _Wait_** – oh my _god_ , have you guys-?”

“GottagotalktoyoulaterBYEARTY!”

“WALLY-!”

Wally ends the call on that note, and then switches off his phone for good measure. He knows he’s going to have some strongly worded messages left on his voicemail when he turns it back on, but the brief reprieve would be worth it. He really doesn’t want to talk through that particular subject with her yet. Especially since he and Dick haven’t even had that talk yet.

Holy shit. They haven’t talked about that yet.

Wally tilts his head up to stare at the sky, taking a deep breath of fresh air before exhaling it all in one big rush. The hand that isn’t still holding his phone reaches up to rub over his face, a quiet groan slipping past his lips. God, how the hell had things gotten so turned around so quickly?

Not that he’s complaining. No, god no. He’s happy, properly happy, for the first time in a while.

Dick makes him happy.

The thought of his boyfriend, the man currently sleeping in his bed upstairs, has him smiling like an idiot again. All he wants to do is run back up there and bundle up next to him for the foreseeable future. All thought of ‘what ifs’ or mistakes or _holy jesus Dick skipped patrol last night_ leave his mind, and he finds himself taking the stairs two at a time back to his room.

He’s skidding down the hall, opening his bedroom door, and then there’s Dick, in exactly the same place he’d been when Wally had left: sprawled out in the middle of Wally’s bed, flat on his stomach with a pillow resting over his head. The blanket is riding low on his hips, revealing the map of scars on Dick’s back, and his arms tucked lazily under both pillows at the top of the mattress.

Wally’s starry-eyed and love drunk just looking at him. Part of him just wants to stand there and appreciate the view forever. Another part of him wants to cannon ball onto the bed and scare the shit out of his best friend.

He decides on combining the two desires, and takes a flying leap onto the bed, landing spread eagle across the width of the mattress, and consequently, across Dick’s sleeping body. His boyfriend lets out an irritated groan at the sudden weight thrown on top of him, writhing underneath Wally and trying to throw him off, but his tired limbs won’t seem to let him.

Dick attempts to roll over from underneath him. “Get off me, you jackass…”

Wally grins at the muffled voice from below the pillow. “But you’re so comfy.”

“Wally.”

“Yes?”

“If you don’t get off me in three seconds I will kill you.”

“Thought the Bat’s didn’t kill?”

“I’ll make an exception.”

“Oooh scary- ah- ow! Ow! Okay! Jeez!”

After receiving a hard pinch to the bicep and a particularly aggressive head-shove, Wally rolls off Dick’s tired form and shimmies up to lay next to him. He rubs at his smarting muscle, pouting a little as Dick rolls over to send him a glare that’s far too sleepy to scare. It’s too cute for words, but Wally doesn’t say so out loud. He figures he’d be a dead man walking if he tried it.

Still, with Dick’s soft frown and owlish blinking, Wally’s heart melts.

“Good morning, sunshine.”

“What time is it?”

“About 7:15.”

Dick groans, rolling over to bury his face in Wally’s pillow again. “Fuck, me…”

Wally’s heart leaps into his throat, but he doesn’t address that particularly relevant phrase. “Too early for you, babe?”

“You know it is…”

“Want a few more hours?”

“Mhm…”

Dick already seems to be falling asleep again, his breath going shallow as his voice peters off into a quiet murmur. Wally smiles, watching as Dick’s face relaxes in slumber once again, and decides he deserves a couple more hours of sleep himself. Turning over onto his back, he yanks his t-shirt over his head and tosses it to the floor, jeans and sneakers quickly following suit before he drags the comforter up over his body. He wriggles in closer to Dick, resting his head on the edge of the pillow so his nose brushes up against his boyfriend’s.

Dick’s lips turn up in a tired smile, and he’s throwing a lazy arm around Wally’s waist. The speedster doesn’t expect much else from his nocturnal boyfriend at this point in the day, so he’s surprised when Dick speaks again.

“What did Artemis want?”

Wally lets out a soft chuckle. “To chew me out.”

“Nothin’ new then…”

“Nope.”

“Was she mad?”

“Yeah.”

“You guys okay?”

“Yeah.”

“’kay good.”

“Go to sleep, Dick…”

“’kay… Walls...?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you…”

Wally blinks open his tired eyes, letting them focus on his boyfriend, who seems to have dropped right off into sleep. He wonders if Dick is even aware of taking to him right now.

He smiles, watching as a strand of stark black hair falls across Dick’s closed eyes, his slow breath and smooth expression making his friend look so much younger. So much more like the boy he’d thrown himself into friendship with all those years ago.

Maybe he should take some advice from his younger self and throw himself into something new all over again. Because this is Dick Grayson. The man who always comes to his rescue. Who always has a plan. Who always has a hand outstretched, ready to pick him back up when he falls.

Like he’s falling right now.

It’s in a sleepy haze that Wally realizes he doesn’t care about fucking up anymore. Because he’s half-asleep in his bed with his best friend in the world, and he’s okay with the fact that he’s suddenly in a free-fall.

He doesn’t care about contingency plans or ‘what if’s’ or a promise of forever friendship.

Wally knows it’s gonna be okay.

“I love you too...”

Because when has Wally West needed any kind of safety net when he knows that Dick Grayson will always catch him when he falls?

**Author's Note:**

> If you wanna yell at me about birdflash/batfam/dc in general, hit me up at notstars-doors.tumblr.com !!! :D


End file.
